WKU’s research and creative database TopSCHOLAR® hits one million downloads

WKU Libraries’ TopSCHOLAR® research and creative activity database has reached one million full-text article downloads since its launch in May 2007.   

“We are very pleased to learn we’ve reached and exceeded the millionth mark,” said Connie Foster, Dean of WKU Libraries. “This milestone signifies the value of WKU’s intellectual capital and global reach.”

The millionth paper, accessed on October 21, 2013, was a masters theses titled “Internet GIS as a Historic Place-Making Tool for Mammoth Cave National Park” by Ann E. Epperson, published December 12, 2010.

TopSCHOLAR showcases accomplishments from all disciplines. Mary Bennett, Director of WKU School of Nursing, uses TopSCHOLAR® for ease of availability. “It’s a great place to post copies of my publications so they can be easily searched and accessed by people from all over the world,” says Bennett. “Often graduate students and international researchers face challenges obtaining full-text access to journals… my research has been translated for use in Spanish language countries, in Sweden and in Belgium.”

John Cipolla, Associate Professor in Music, and Bruce Kessler, Professor and Department Head of Mathematics, both agree that TopSCHOLAR®  is a great way to share research activities. “The monthly reports not only help me track readership, but help me stay connected with the interest of my colleagues,” says Cipolla.

In addition to faculty, graduate students have the opportunity to post their works on TopSCHOLAR® . Professor Aaron Hughey, Department of Counseling and Student Affairs, sees the digital repository as a great option to reach an audience that would have not been possible otherwise. “It also serves as a motivational tool for students and helps to insure high quality,” says Hughey. “Knowing their work will be available around the world is a powerful incentive to produce the best research available.”

For more information on TopSCHOLAR®, go to digitalcommons.wku.edu or look for TopSCHOLAR®  at wku.edu/library.

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